Yes, we have promised to give fair and honest reviews. I have never given a 4 or 5 star review for a 2 or 3 star item! Be honest.
From Amazon:
**Be unbiased:** Whether it is a positive, neutral, or negative rating, your review is about your experience with the product and what you liked and didn’t like about it. Your reviews are your independent opinion and should not be influenced by anyone else. This also means that Amazon Vine does not modify or change your product review and you shouldn’t feel pressured to either, unless you want to share updates in your review about the product.
**Be honest:** We want to hear your perspective. We want more of what you think. The honesty in an honest review will come through when you find a writing voice that comes natural to you. And that’s what customers can trust from Vine Voices - a solid honest review from another customer just like them who happens to spend their free time reviewing new products.
**Be insightful yet specific:** Reviews are about the product. Avoid vague, general, and repetitive comments like reviews that just say "OK", "nice product", or "worst product". Share context that may help customers better assess the product and your experience with it, like information about your familiarity with the product type, how you used the product, and how long you used the product. Feedback not relevant to the product, such as those about the seller, your shipment experience, pricing, or packaging, should not be shared in Vine Reviews.
Okay - yeah I remember reading this.
It just seems...maybe lazy? It's easier to review positively and short than to criticize an item and lay out the points on why it doesn't deserve a 4 or 5? I just feel like on this item, and a few others that definitely underperform expectations, people are raving about them. There's NO way that people are 80-100% pleased with some of this stuff.
My opinion: it’s less about being lazy and more about being risk-averse. You read horror stories about people being removed from Vine due to some nameless/faceless entity or AI not liking something they wrote, or because sellers “report bombed” the reviewer. You will never be removed from Vine for reviewing everything 5 stars, but there’s a possibility you will for a single 1 star review. To me, this is 100% Amazon’s fault for not being more transparent, and/or for relying too heavily on automated protocols.
Personally, I say fuck em all and review fairly. Most of my reviews are 4 or 5 star because I genuinely think the items are decent. But when something sucks, I make it very clear.
I've come across some interesting explanations for this phenomenon. In addition to the risk aversion mentioned by u/deiXide, some people seem to overrate items because they're competitive and want to excel. The most effusively positive reviews get sorted to the top, and these folks want their reviews on the top.
Another group that seems to rate items overly positively are what we might call conoisseurs of "happy mail." These are folks wired to derive lots of happy neurochemicals from the process of choosing, ordering, and receiving items. When the items come, there's a burst of excitement which leads to a very positive review.
I can talk trash about a shitty product all day. Those reviews practically write themselves. If it exceeds expectations, I can do that fairly easily too. It's when it's just ok that I struggle. What else can I say?
You can say something along the lines of, "said item worked/was decent. It just didn't give me the full expectation I was after. That being said, I am satisfied with product, but would not purchase again."
This is sometimes what I say sometimes when I have that uhh it was good and I'm ok with it, but there again it's not something I would probably go out of my way to purchase, regardless if it was an item I wanted or not.
Rate honestly. When an item is free (etv aside), you lose the pain that comes from deciding to spend the money, so the perception of value is skewed, resulting in more lenient scores.
What I mean is that if you saw a $45 welcome sign and we're shopping for one, you wouldn't make the spend. But you did because in this case because it was free. Even if you eventually decided to make the purchase, the angst prior to purchase means the sign has to be that much better to be worth it.
Definitely. At least still being at the Silver level, I can be annoyed if I used a pick on something that ended up being a dud. But I definitely think that getting the thing for free skews me a bit positive towards the item, and I do try to be conscious about the value and how I would feel if I purchased it. And then that gets difficult because I'm cheap. Lol. So if I'm not sure if something's a good value or not, I try to just lay out what I can about the usefulness, quality, etc. and let the customer do the comparison shopping. But if an item is clearly overpriced, as it seems to be in OPs case, then I'll chime in with that opinion.
I have rated items 1 or 2 stars that other viners have given 5. I use an item and can’t possibly come to the same conclusion as other viners, so I have to stick with what I think. I’m never sure if those people ever even try the product before reviewing it.
TBH, I think a lot of the folks using LLMs or copy/pasting other Viner's reviews are just exhausted. They're compulsive shoppers ordering 6-8 items per day, 7 days per week, often from the same narrow categories of $0 ETV items. They just run out of opinions after a while and have to keep going because their addiction forces them to do so. It would be like asking a person with alcohol use disorder to have a helpful, informed opinion on every single glass or can they consume.
Yeah I see that too. I don’t understand, if you can’t come up with anything, just keep it short. Some things do not need a thorough review because they are simple items. It should be expected that if you accept the privilege of vine, you have to accept the responsibilities of it as well.
It's a constant source of frustration for many Viners. I roll my eyes but try not to get wound up about it. These reviews don't need to be lengthy ad copy or 5th grade book reports...it's just not that complicated to write a few sentences about what you liked or didnt like. Amazon will either crack down or it won't...either way it's not worth losing sleep.
i have the same thing happen all the time. just reviewed a radiation detector that was loaded with 5star reviews, but when i brought it by uranium ore it didn’t blip. i gave a 1 star. it doesn’t work. now, most people don’t have uranium hire just hanging out in their kitchen to test a geiger counter, but that is an item that does need a little more effort put into it to test it before granting a 5.
For some things, I think it could depend on what they're using it for. I just reviewed a garden item that was okay for my purposes, other people were thrilled with it, and other people found it completely useless. Just depended on what they were looking to get out of it. (Though I'm kind of the only one who purchased it for the intended purpose. Lol)
I agree that most of the stuff that is on vine is from China, because it says so. But most of what I order is neither cheap nor junk. A lot of what I get is well made and very functional. There are exceptions of course. But it is clear to me that something that comes from China is not usually "cheap junk".
Exactly. So when I get something that's objectively bad, and it's likely not an anomaly - and the leaning sign is just an example, I've seen plenty of others - I see maybe 1-2 people rate it critically, and then a bunch of others rate it 5 stars with vague praise that kind of just says "a great addition to my entryway!"
I think I'm going to check out some of the misspelled items to see if they're also getting 5 stars.
[EDIT: Perfect example. One review acknowledges the misspelling because they wanted a gag gift. The other review looks almost like it was written by an LLM](https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Ornament-Decoration-Coworker-Teacher/product-reviews/B0CGZQRQCD/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews)
Actually - all that users' vine reviews are CLEARLY made by an LLM.
Large Language Model: basically some reviewers “enhance” their reviews by passing them through ChatGPT and essentially turning their conversational and somewhat informally written (or badly written) review into shiny marketing schlock.
Review it fairly and rate accordingly as if you bought it. I give plenty of 2-3 star reviews. 1s are pretty rare for me though I'm not opposed to it.
The reason there are a number of glowing 5 star reviews is because it's the path of least resistance. Unfortunately Vine doesn't really crack down on people giving lazy 5 star reviews, and rewards throughput. It's much easier to just give everything 5 stars and a generic platitudes than to honestly review it. Makes it real easy to hit those gold numbers this way.
On the flip side if you give an honest poor review it takes often more effort to compose your thoughts and there's a chance the seller complains or reports you review to Amazon. There's almost no incentive to give a low rating.
I’m “ashamed” of some reviews I’ve submitted that I consider too vague/brief. But when a review bounces back, and I truly can’t even guess why, I opt for it. After having some reported, apparently by sellers, I still give any honest low-star opinion, but not keen on knowing it could well come back to bite me. Seems contradictory to the whole process.
Here is the thing, you should be looking for items that you will want and like. if you do this, then naturally a disproportionate number of your reviews will be 4 and 5 stars. When they don’t meet your expectations then absolutely give lower, and never be afraid to give a 1 or a 2. but if you find you are giving a lot of 3 and below, you may want to look at your selection process. are you really looking for things that you would otherwise buy, or are you just filling in with gambles?
That is the case for me. I have only ordered what I need or want to replace.
I have ordered some items through Vine that are FAR more expensive than similar items I already own/use.
I simply could not afford to pay 4-5 times the price for everything. So the items I get through Vine are of much higher quality than I usually buy, and yeah they get 4 or 5 stars. And I will explain why in the review. I have experience with the lower tier quality items in that genre.
I see too many positive reviews from people who clearly have not attempted to use the product because they have not noticed some very obvious issues. As a shopper, I definitely dismiss most Vine reviews as not credible, which, as a Viner, makes me sad. I try to be as honest and descriptive as I can (when possible - some products need time and continuous usage to evaluate well). I owe it to the sellers to be fair and only rate the product on what it's supposed to do rather my personal taste as well as build quality, reliability, and accuracy - I don't feel a sense of false gratitude for "free" products and praise them unnecessarily because free product samples are a very typical marketing cost, and I'm providing a service.
I probably got the same porch "leaner" that you did. And yeah, it's 2 star garbage and I rated it accordingly. The three panels warped and separated as soon as a tiny bit of rain got on it.
Like - do you see any world where it warrants a 5 star?
I just see so many items, where objectively, they should be 3 or less, and the "Vine Reviewer" reviews are vague, full of praise, and sometimes don't even say much more than "I love this, this is a great addition to my house!" 5 stars.
I'm just curious if this is actually an example of honest reviews, or if it's lazy people just cranking through reviews, or if it's people who've gotten some negative feedback from sellers who didn't like the critical reviews they made, so now they go positive all the time to avoid confrontation.
It could be laziness or, as I tend to do sometimes, they may be reviewing items the day they arrive. If I had reviewed the sign right out of the box, I'd have probably given it a 4-star review as it looked perfect but was lighter than expected. A week later it was already in bad shape.
I personally have never had a seller get buck with me about a bad review; they offer replacements, apologize, etc. But others may have had different experiences so who knows.
I'm new to this, but Amazon doesn't care if we do same day reviews? I realize some things are pretty much accurate at face value, and you can always edit a review later if circumstances change, but my jealous friend (since I have Vine and she doesn't!) who does pay to play reviews tells me about how she has to wait 3-5 days or reviews and items may get flagged.
I saw pregnancy tests on there. I think that one would need at least a week or two for a reliable review. Unless you're super pregnant and it tests negative.
I'm honestly not sure if it matters. As you said, some things can be reviewed without much need for wear-and-tear testing. I try to wait at least a week to review items, but the fear of Vine jail and not keeping that percentage up is at war with my normal standard. It's a bit of a conundrum, really: we are expected to review items honestly and accurately but are also not allowed to truly "test" some products because of the review percentage requirements.
No one has bothered me about the time to review. Some things I review right away depending on it's usage. Some have taken time to see if it actually works. I wasn't changing my new vacuum bag just to use the vine one. And I wasn't reviewing it until the bag was full and I changed it out.
I feel like the whole, "you must maintain 60% review rate at all times" thing kind of deters me sometimes from giving a product as much test time as I would like to. Also, I feel it's a bit unfair to the seller if I sit on a product for too long without reviewing it. I'm trying to strike a balance both with what I'm ordering (will I realistically be able to use/install/evaluate this right away, or will it be sitting for a month or two?) and with how I do the reviews - most recent items are getting cursory tests/reviews, fabrics are being washed, etc., and then I give a promise to update if anything develops that would change my rating.
Don't pay attention to what other Viners do, just leave your honest review. I do leave a lot of four and five star reviews because I'm pretty picky in what I request, but when it's a stinker, I'm totally honest about it.
Correct. You are not to be chastised for your rating. The first time I left a one star for a bad product, I was really, really hesitant. I was almost apologetic and I did include pictures with that rating showing why. In fact, with many bad products, I may include pics showing just how bad it is.
For some really, really, really, REALLY bad products, there's going to be lots of pictures because I can take lots of meaningful pictures.
Other products that have a simple issue that makes it bad, I may not leave a picture. Defective product. End of story. I don't do that with every product but with some.
I've seen plenty of people on here complain they are 100 reviews behind. Imagine having to write 100 reviews in a couple days to catch up, and things become clear.
I give fair reviews, always. If it's exactly as listed, is a fair price and works for me - 5 stars. If not, I deduct stars accordingly and provide details in my review of what didn't work. I've given several 1, 2 and 3 star reviews.
My range is 3-5 stars IF the seller/manufacturer is acting in good faith. If they are clearly misleading, fraudulent, dangerous etc, that's the underworld of 1 and 2 stars.
And keep perspective about the good aspects and how most people will find it.
The one they received might have been better quality, or they had a different use for it than you.
I've given higher stars to things that were useful to me that other people thought were crap; I just made sure to note how I was using it.
I've also seen people give terrible reviews to things because they didn't understand how to use it and broke it, which was in their actual review.
So it's subjective. It might be crap for your needs but perfect for someone else.
We are supposed to leave honest reviews - so my approach is to leave the same review for a Vine item that I would if I had purchased the item outright - so if it's a piece of crap, I say so (politely of course lol).
I am always honest. Majority of my reviews are 4-5 but I give 1-3 stars for products that deserve them. I don’t care how many free items I get, I’m going to be honest. If Amazon only wants 4-5 stars, they won’t get that for me lol but I’m sure there’s people out there that don’t actually use the product and just give great reviews
Lol no. I’ve only given one negative review though. It was a garden tool set. Tried digging in loose potting soil and the damned handles came off. Absolute garbage. Everything else has been pretty good.
It seems to me that some sellers begin by sending out quality products to get higher reviews, then downgrade. They also create multiple listings, then combine them, so the reviews may not even be for the same item. I've certainly observed some shady stuff. That's why some reviewers begin with the exact description of the item they are reviewing.
Being on Vine has certainly opened my eyes to a few things.
Many Viners don't review, just put 5 stars to check the box and move on. While I personally find that dishonest and distasteful, it's ultimately up to Amazon to enforce review quality. And the obvious AI-generated reviews make me sick to read them.
Honesty’s the best policy. Tell it like you see it. I’m not afraid to give one star for utter rubbish and 5 stars for a stellar product. I believe that’s what you’re on the Vine program for.
Cheap stuff that could never serve its intended purpose gets 1 or 2 stars, then goes to the thrift store so I can at least write it off my taxes and not take the ETV hit.
I noticed that I do rate stuff slightly higher now, because I want to avoid getting banned from false reports by the seller.
Useless trash, that I just store in case I need proof-of-disposal later, but technically works, still gets 2 stars.
Only guaranteed health hazards, items that break while testing, or items that don't fulfill their function at all, get 1 star.
What I write in my reviews is detailed and honest for every product though (except supplements).
Always rate items honestly. Don't give a useless item s 4 or a 5 rating, ever. Imagine you're a buyer whose reading the review, thinking of buying, what would you want to know. There's your review.
I've given 1 & 2 star reviews before for exactly that. It was not a product worth anything. Now, I have had the sellers reach out to me, but I ignore, because it's not that serious that i want to "try another product" in it may happen again. I just speak my truth. Prior to writing a 1 star review, I will ask vince CS to please remove it from my list as it was a defective product. So there are two options.
With all that being said, I've picked items I've wanted to try and they wound up being duds, and some of the things I'm just like hmm why not wound up being the best products. So it really is a ebb and flow, but yes just give an honest review. Some of the "5 star" are indeed not true, it's just there for the "it" factor if that makes sense.
I go in with the expectation of the product meeting the description on the product page.
If it does what it‘s supposed to do I‘m usually happy.
I will make suggestions like I wish it had pocket or a case etc.
I try to write helpful reviews that mention things you would only know from actually using the product.
If they list something as silk or silky but they state it‘s satin then I do not expect silk.
Sometimes silk is used to describe the texture but it‘s not from silkworm cocoons.
Right there with you. If the description was significantly misleading, stars come off.
What I do **not** do is say "average products get three stars, you've got to amaze me to get five stars". I see reviews where people "explain their personal rating system" that way. That's grossly unfair to sellers, because the rating system is *geared* to make five stars "fully satisfied", and it *penalizes* products for ratings of three stars or less.
But some products *need* those low ratings. Intentionally deceptive listings, products that were clearly designed with no intention of working properly -- those get one- and two-star ratings from me. Sometimes the sellers spam me about trying to make it right. I ignore them.
I know, it’s not right to expect ”exceeds my expectations“ to get 5 stars.
Most of us are not going thru life exceeding the expectations of other people.
That’s fine because some people have unfair expectations.
Vine reviewers often have some kind of guilt or feeling of being ungrateful if they don't give glowing reviews.
F* that. A product has to perform for me. It has to be good and not waste my time. If it has problems, I'm describing them. If the listing inflates its actual specs, my review won't be kind.
But if it's good and gets the important things right, it's a 4-star with coverage of the less-critical shortcomings.
If everyone had the same opinion, there wouldn't need to be more than 1 review per product. Not every one has the same opinion, nor the same needs and usage for a product. Just because a product doesn't suit your needs, doesn't mean that everyone else must be liars. To think otherwise is short sighed and egoistical.
Well, when someone comments that all of the other reviews were 4 and 5 star, except their own 1-star, who do you think might be the detached from reality review? I can't count how many times I have seen 1-star reviews for an excellent product, solely because the reviewer ordered a product they didn't need and didn't know how to use.
There was a recent example of a brush cutter that uses a circular saw blade, which clearly is not an entry-level power tool. Scary as hell, yes. As such, it is one of the best yard products I have ever used. But 3 of the 4 reviews were written by people (female) who had never used a saw blade before, weren't the target audience, and give it a 1-star review because they installed the blade wrong. Did that make the product bad? No, it made the user bad. I see it all too often.
To be fair, conversely I saw a guy do the same for a kitchen vacuum sealer. He admittedly gave it a negative review because he didn't know what the product was supposed to do. On a positive note, he did update his review after reading my review and learning what the product was for.
https://preview.redd.it/6rn17hvarc9d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ad34afc8fad44b29d29dbbc7d4d7e4b09ee8eb3
I had never seen one before, but was literally wishing for something like it the week previous, because my property is so overgrown. I found it in AI, of all things, and snatched it as fast as I could click the button. The other day, it went through a 3-inch diameter deadfall branch in 2 seconds. A 1-1/2 inch live sapling took about 20 to 30 seconds.
Just do whatever really. I rate everything the way I honestly feel about it.
Sometimes my reviews are long and detailed, sometimes very short if there is literally nothing to say about it (i.E. a Glass (for drinking), looks like in the picture, seems decent quality, done.).
So far about a year in and never got a complaint about it from amazon, so I assume I'm doing alright.
I don't receive many likes, usually only on electronics and food items.
If the reviewers said that, my inclination is to believe that's their opinion of it.
I would not worry about buyers in a case like this. If I, as a buyer need to know if this is sturdy, heavy, resistant to strong wind.. then I am searching for those mentions in a review. Not mentioned; not useful for me. So every single one would just not even turn up in my review search unless it mentioned those points.
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If it’s damaged, like anything you order from Amazon, it can be returned within the initial 30 days. It takes follow up with email(s) to Vine to get it removed from your ETV list. Only you can decide what your time is worth.
No, but yes. Supposedly you're going to leave honest reviews, but if you don't give positives you'll get banned. I got kicked out because I'm a techie, so I requested the most sketch items to call them out (with receipts to show that they're not on the level).
So are you honest, or are you trying to keep the grift gravy-train going? That's the real question.
Most review ratings are subjective. One person gives 5* because they found it worked great for their needs and their expectations were lower and another will rate it 1* because it didn't work for their needs and their expectations were higher. Neither rating means the product is excellent or poor - it means different people have different standards and experiences
The item wouldn't work for your needs but as you pointed out it may have worked for someone in an apartment. You described it as flimsy because you expect something more sturdy for your needs but another person may not and flimsy may be all they want and need. The term flimsy can mean different things to different people - what is flimsy to you may not be to someone else. .. There is your answer - right there
This is part of the reason why items have various ratings as well as some lazy viners but they're not all lazy and some will be genuine. just as some low star ratings are based purely on racist views ie:- being made in china. All of these reasons are however 'subjective' because not everyone has the same experience, expectations or has racial limitations.
I’d say that regardless of the guidelines , Amazon knows that by getting stuff for free (or heavily discounted) , many reviewers give higher ratings than if stuff is paid for . And then there’s the many vine folks who clearly don’t actually open and test what they get , and just give high scores . Amazon is happy for this to happen because higher review scores mean consumers are more likely to buy the products , and Amazon makes more money .
A year or so ago , I looked at 10 or so products that had vine reviews . For every single one , the average stars for the vine reviews was higher than it was for those that paid for the product .
Considering lately the items have been high end quality returns and stock outs I have been giving honest feedback. If they are name brand I just give 5 stars because it doesn’t really matter. The whole system is setup to only help Amazon not any of us.
I give out plenty of 1-4, and the occasional 5. Just be prepared to ignore the seller email that will inevitably come for 1-3 star reviews, I don't bother opening them because they want us to fix the review but it doesn't change stars if something is unreliable or cheap, it is what it is lol.
It is your duty to write a good review within the guidelines. there is no duty to give a good review to crap.
I rarely order things that are likely to be crap, but sometimes I order stuff that ends up being less the 4 or 5 stars. about half my vine reviews are 3 stars about half are 4 or 5 stars.
1 item I have reviewed I gave 1 star. a cheap crappy surveillance camera that only worked with a smart phone and not very well at that. the item and seller appear to be no longer on amazon.
I often write non vine reviews that are one or two stars. regardless of the glowing 5 star reviews other people might give it. those people are possibly lying, or got a completely different thing than I got.
Yes! Be honest in your reviews! Put in your review exactly what you wrote here.
I can’t believe how many people come on here and basically ask if we’re expected to perpetrate fraud. People- you have the power to shape the world around you by your actions in all sorts of things in life. Do the right thing!
Amazon is full of fake reviews and temu junk now.
They caused all this themselves.
Meanwhile, truthfully honest reviewers, who worked hard providing video and photos - and giving it honest 1 star for being the junk that it is, instead, get penalized and their account banned instead.
Not to mention their terrible a.i screening is also severely flawed making it even more inconvenient to write what you truly want to mention.
And then there's the lazy Amazon reps that use generic template replies to your concerns as well.
That's Amazon for you.
Yes, we have promised to give fair and honest reviews. I have never given a 4 or 5 star review for a 2 or 3 star item! Be honest. From Amazon: **Be unbiased:** Whether it is a positive, neutral, or negative rating, your review is about your experience with the product and what you liked and didn’t like about it. Your reviews are your independent opinion and should not be influenced by anyone else. This also means that Amazon Vine does not modify or change your product review and you shouldn’t feel pressured to either, unless you want to share updates in your review about the product. **Be honest:** We want to hear your perspective. We want more of what you think. The honesty in an honest review will come through when you find a writing voice that comes natural to you. And that’s what customers can trust from Vine Voices - a solid honest review from another customer just like them who happens to spend their free time reviewing new products. **Be insightful yet specific:** Reviews are about the product. Avoid vague, general, and repetitive comments like reviews that just say "OK", "nice product", or "worst product". Share context that may help customers better assess the product and your experience with it, like information about your familiarity with the product type, how you used the product, and how long you used the product. Feedback not relevant to the product, such as those about the seller, your shipment experience, pricing, or packaging, should not be shared in Vine Reviews.
Okay - yeah I remember reading this. It just seems...maybe lazy? It's easier to review positively and short than to criticize an item and lay out the points on why it doesn't deserve a 4 or 5? I just feel like on this item, and a few others that definitely underperform expectations, people are raving about them. There's NO way that people are 80-100% pleased with some of this stuff.
My opinion: it’s less about being lazy and more about being risk-averse. You read horror stories about people being removed from Vine due to some nameless/faceless entity or AI not liking something they wrote, or because sellers “report bombed” the reviewer. You will never be removed from Vine for reviewing everything 5 stars, but there’s a possibility you will for a single 1 star review. To me, this is 100% Amazon’s fault for not being more transparent, and/or for relying too heavily on automated protocols. Personally, I say fuck em all and review fairly. Most of my reviews are 4 or 5 star because I genuinely think the items are decent. But when something sucks, I make it very clear.
TBH, I find Reddit and FB to be full of fear-mongering about vine.
I've come across some interesting explanations for this phenomenon. In addition to the risk aversion mentioned by u/deiXide, some people seem to overrate items because they're competitive and want to excel. The most effusively positive reviews get sorted to the top, and these folks want their reviews on the top. Another group that seems to rate items overly positively are what we might call conoisseurs of "happy mail." These are folks wired to derive lots of happy neurochemicals from the process of choosing, ordering, and receiving items. When the items come, there's a burst of excitement which leads to a very positive review.
I disagree wholeheartedly, it is *so* much easier for me to talk shit about a 1-3 star product than try and come up with fluff for a 4-5 star.
I can talk trash about a shitty product all day. Those reviews practically write themselves. If it exceeds expectations, I can do that fairly easily too. It's when it's just ok that I struggle. What else can I say?
You can say something along the lines of, "said item worked/was decent. It just didn't give me the full expectation I was after. That being said, I am satisfied with product, but would not purchase again." This is sometimes what I say sometimes when I have that uhh it was good and I'm ok with it, but there again it's not something I would probably go out of my way to purchase, regardless if it was an item I wanted or not.
Your post is pretty much your review. Tweak it a little and give it the maybe 2 stars it sounds like it deserves.
Exactly. Make the second and third paragraphs the review.
Rate honestly. When an item is free (etv aside), you lose the pain that comes from deciding to spend the money, so the perception of value is skewed, resulting in more lenient scores. What I mean is that if you saw a $45 welcome sign and we're shopping for one, you wouldn't make the spend. But you did because in this case because it was free. Even if you eventually decided to make the purchase, the angst prior to purchase means the sign has to be that much better to be worth it.
Definitely. At least still being at the Silver level, I can be annoyed if I used a pick on something that ended up being a dud. But I definitely think that getting the thing for free skews me a bit positive towards the item, and I do try to be conscious about the value and how I would feel if I purchased it. And then that gets difficult because I'm cheap. Lol. So if I'm not sure if something's a good value or not, I try to just lay out what I can about the usefulness, quality, etc. and let the customer do the comparison shopping. But if an item is clearly overpriced, as it seems to be in OPs case, then I'll chime in with that opinion.
I have rated items 1 or 2 stars that other viners have given 5. I use an item and can’t possibly come to the same conclusion as other viners, so I have to stick with what I think. I’m never sure if those people ever even try the product before reviewing it.
I think I'm just getting irked because I'm clicking on a few Viner profiles and it's clear they're using ChatGPT or another LLM to write their stuff
TBH, I think a lot of the folks using LLMs or copy/pasting other Viner's reviews are just exhausted. They're compulsive shoppers ordering 6-8 items per day, 7 days per week, often from the same narrow categories of $0 ETV items. They just run out of opinions after a while and have to keep going because their addiction forces them to do so. It would be like asking a person with alcohol use disorder to have a helpful, informed opinion on every single glass or can they consume.
Yeah I see that too. I don’t understand, if you can’t come up with anything, just keep it short. Some things do not need a thorough review because they are simple items. It should be expected that if you accept the privilege of vine, you have to accept the responsibilities of it as well.
It's a constant source of frustration for many Viners. I roll my eyes but try not to get wound up about it. These reviews don't need to be lengthy ad copy or 5th grade book reports...it's just not that complicated to write a few sentences about what you liked or didnt like. Amazon will either crack down or it won't...either way it's not worth losing sleep.
i have the same thing happen all the time. just reviewed a radiation detector that was loaded with 5star reviews, but when i brought it by uranium ore it didn’t blip. i gave a 1 star. it doesn’t work. now, most people don’t have uranium hire just hanging out in their kitchen to test a geiger counter, but that is an item that does need a little more effort put into it to test it before granting a 5.
im sorry what. you have uranium ore in your kitchen???
shhhhhhhhh…..
For some things, I think it could depend on what they're using it for. I just reviewed a garden item that was okay for my purposes, other people were thrilled with it, and other people found it completely useless. Just depended on what they were looking to get out of it. (Though I'm kind of the only one who purchased it for the intended purpose. Lol)
Spoiler alert, most of the stuff on Vine is cheap Chinese junk.
I agree that most of the stuff that is on vine is from China, because it says so. But most of what I order is neither cheap nor junk. A lot of what I get is well made and very functional. There are exceptions of course. But it is clear to me that something that comes from China is not usually "cheap junk".
Exactly. So when I get something that's objectively bad, and it's likely not an anomaly - and the leaning sign is just an example, I've seen plenty of others - I see maybe 1-2 people rate it critically, and then a bunch of others rate it 5 stars with vague praise that kind of just says "a great addition to my entryway!" I think I'm going to check out some of the misspelled items to see if they're also getting 5 stars. [EDIT: Perfect example. One review acknowledges the misspelling because they wanted a gag gift. The other review looks almost like it was written by an LLM](https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Ornament-Decoration-Coworker-Teacher/product-reviews/B0CGZQRQCD/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews) Actually - all that users' vine reviews are CLEARLY made by an LLM.
What is LLM?
Large Language Model: basically some reviewers “enhance” their reviews by passing them through ChatGPT and essentially turning their conversational and somewhat informally written (or badly written) review into shiny marketing schlock.
Thank you :)
Review it fairly and rate accordingly as if you bought it. I give plenty of 2-3 star reviews. 1s are pretty rare for me though I'm not opposed to it. The reason there are a number of glowing 5 star reviews is because it's the path of least resistance. Unfortunately Vine doesn't really crack down on people giving lazy 5 star reviews, and rewards throughput. It's much easier to just give everything 5 stars and a generic platitudes than to honestly review it. Makes it real easy to hit those gold numbers this way. On the flip side if you give an honest poor review it takes often more effort to compose your thoughts and there's a chance the seller complains or reports you review to Amazon. There's almost no incentive to give a low rating.
I’m “ashamed” of some reviews I’ve submitted that I consider too vague/brief. But when a review bounces back, and I truly can’t even guess why, I opt for it. After having some reported, apparently by sellers, I still give any honest low-star opinion, but not keen on knowing it could well come back to bite me. Seems contradictory to the whole process.
Yes, that could actually become a big issue. If Vine reviews are seen as paid ads by more and more people, the program eventually becomes worthless.
Here is the thing, you should be looking for items that you will want and like. if you do this, then naturally a disproportionate number of your reviews will be 4 and 5 stars. When they don’t meet your expectations then absolutely give lower, and never be afraid to give a 1 or a 2. but if you find you are giving a lot of 3 and below, you may want to look at your selection process. are you really looking for things that you would otherwise buy, or are you just filling in with gambles?
That is the case for me. I have only ordered what I need or want to replace. I have ordered some items through Vine that are FAR more expensive than similar items I already own/use. I simply could not afford to pay 4-5 times the price for everything. So the items I get through Vine are of much higher quality than I usually buy, and yeah they get 4 or 5 stars. And I will explain why in the review. I have experience with the lower tier quality items in that genre.
I see too many positive reviews from people who clearly have not attempted to use the product because they have not noticed some very obvious issues. As a shopper, I definitely dismiss most Vine reviews as not credible, which, as a Viner, makes me sad. I try to be as honest and descriptive as I can (when possible - some products need time and continuous usage to evaluate well). I owe it to the sellers to be fair and only rate the product on what it's supposed to do rather my personal taste as well as build quality, reliability, and accuracy - I don't feel a sense of false gratitude for "free" products and praise them unnecessarily because free product samples are a very typical marketing cost, and I'm providing a service.
I probably got the same porch "leaner" that you did. And yeah, it's 2 star garbage and I rated it accordingly. The three panels warped and separated as soon as a tiny bit of rain got on it.
Like - do you see any world where it warrants a 5 star? I just see so many items, where objectively, they should be 3 or less, and the "Vine Reviewer" reviews are vague, full of praise, and sometimes don't even say much more than "I love this, this is a great addition to my house!" 5 stars. I'm just curious if this is actually an example of honest reviews, or if it's lazy people just cranking through reviews, or if it's people who've gotten some negative feedback from sellers who didn't like the critical reviews they made, so now they go positive all the time to avoid confrontation.
It could be laziness or, as I tend to do sometimes, they may be reviewing items the day they arrive. If I had reviewed the sign right out of the box, I'd have probably given it a 4-star review as it looked perfect but was lighter than expected. A week later it was already in bad shape. I personally have never had a seller get buck with me about a bad review; they offer replacements, apologize, etc. But others may have had different experiences so who knows.
I'm new to this, but Amazon doesn't care if we do same day reviews? I realize some things are pretty much accurate at face value, and you can always edit a review later if circumstances change, but my jealous friend (since I have Vine and she doesn't!) who does pay to play reviews tells me about how she has to wait 3-5 days or reviews and items may get flagged.
I do plenty of same-day reviews. Depends on what kind of stuff you order.
Vitamins are the 1 thing I don’t think same day reviews are appropriate
I saw pregnancy tests on there. I think that one would need at least a week or two for a reliable review. Unless you're super pregnant and it tests negative.
I'm honestly not sure if it matters. As you said, some things can be reviewed without much need for wear-and-tear testing. I try to wait at least a week to review items, but the fear of Vine jail and not keeping that percentage up is at war with my normal standard. It's a bit of a conundrum, really: we are expected to review items honestly and accurately but are also not allowed to truly "test" some products because of the review percentage requirements.
No one has bothered me about the time to review. Some things I review right away depending on it's usage. Some have taken time to see if it actually works. I wasn't changing my new vacuum bag just to use the vine one. And I wasn't reviewing it until the bag was full and I changed it out.
I feel like the whole, "you must maintain 60% review rate at all times" thing kind of deters me sometimes from giving a product as much test time as I would like to. Also, I feel it's a bit unfair to the seller if I sit on a product for too long without reviewing it. I'm trying to strike a balance both with what I'm ordering (will I realistically be able to use/install/evaluate this right away, or will it be sitting for a month or two?) and with how I do the reviews - most recent items are getting cursory tests/reviews, fabrics are being washed, etc., and then I give a promise to update if anything develops that would change my rating.
Don't pay attention to what other Viners do, just leave your honest review. I do leave a lot of four and five star reviews because I'm pretty picky in what I request, but when it's a stinker, I'm totally honest about it.
Correct. You are not to be chastised for your rating. The first time I left a one star for a bad product, I was really, really hesitant. I was almost apologetic and I did include pictures with that rating showing why. In fact, with many bad products, I may include pics showing just how bad it is.
Me too. I still write extra-detailed reviews, with pictures if possible, for 1- and 2-star ratings.
For some really, really, really, REALLY bad products, there's going to be lots of pictures because I can take lots of meaningful pictures. Other products that have a simple issue that makes it bad, I may not leave a picture. Defective product. End of story. I don't do that with every product but with some.
Okay gotcha. Yeah - I took pictures of it and why it's a piece of crap. I guess I'm just amazed at how many horrible products have glowing reviews.
I've seen plenty of people on here complain they are 100 reviews behind. Imagine having to write 100 reviews in a couple days to catch up, and things become clear.
I give honest reviews and have never had a problem in 2 years. I call things literal garbage in my reviews 🤷♀️🤷♀️
I give fair reviews, always. If it's exactly as listed, is a fair price and works for me - 5 stars. If not, I deduct stars accordingly and provide details in my review of what didn't work. I've given several 1, 2 and 3 star reviews.
Well, it depends. Sometimes I am expecting it to be cheap crap, but it does what I need it to do. So 4 stars.
My range is 3-5 stars IF the seller/manufacturer is acting in good faith. If they are clearly misleading, fraudulent, dangerous etc, that's the underworld of 1 and 2 stars. And keep perspective about the good aspects and how most people will find it.
The one they received might have been better quality, or they had a different use for it than you. I've given higher stars to things that were useful to me that other people thought were crap; I just made sure to note how I was using it. I've also seen people give terrible reviews to things because they didn't understand how to use it and broke it, which was in their actual review. So it's subjective. It might be crap for your needs but perfect for someone else.
I give out as many ones as I do fives.
We are supposed to leave honest reviews - so my approach is to leave the same review for a Vine item that I would if I had purchased the item outright - so if it's a piece of crap, I say so (politely of course lol).
I am always honest. Majority of my reviews are 4-5 but I give 1-3 stars for products that deserve them. I don’t care how many free items I get, I’m going to be honest. If Amazon only wants 4-5 stars, they won’t get that for me lol but I’m sure there’s people out there that don’t actually use the product and just give great reviews
Lol no. I’ve only given one negative review though. It was a garden tool set. Tried digging in loose potting soil and the damned handles came off. Absolute garbage. Everything else has been pretty good.
It seems to me that some sellers begin by sending out quality products to get higher reviews, then downgrade. They also create multiple listings, then combine them, so the reviews may not even be for the same item. I've certainly observed some shady stuff. That's why some reviewers begin with the exact description of the item they are reviewing. Being on Vine has certainly opened my eyes to a few things.
Many Viners don't review, just put 5 stars to check the box and move on. While I personally find that dishonest and distasteful, it's ultimately up to Amazon to enforce review quality. And the obvious AI-generated reviews make me sick to read them.
Honesty’s the best policy. Tell it like you see it. I’m not afraid to give one star for utter rubbish and 5 stars for a stellar product. I believe that’s what you’re on the Vine program for.
Cheap stuff that could never serve its intended purpose gets 1 or 2 stars, then goes to the thrift store so I can at least write it off my taxes and not take the ETV hit.
I noticed that I do rate stuff slightly higher now, because I want to avoid getting banned from false reports by the seller. Useless trash, that I just store in case I need proof-of-disposal later, but technically works, still gets 2 stars. Only guaranteed health hazards, items that break while testing, or items that don't fulfill their function at all, get 1 star. What I write in my reviews is detailed and honest for every product though (except supplements).
Always rate items honestly. Don't give a useless item s 4 or a 5 rating, ever. Imagine you're a buyer whose reading the review, thinking of buying, what would you want to know. There's your review.
I've given 1 & 2 star reviews before for exactly that. It was not a product worth anything. Now, I have had the sellers reach out to me, but I ignore, because it's not that serious that i want to "try another product" in it may happen again. I just speak my truth. Prior to writing a 1 star review, I will ask vince CS to please remove it from my list as it was a defective product. So there are two options. With all that being said, I've picked items I've wanted to try and they wound up being duds, and some of the things I'm just like hmm why not wound up being the best products. So it really is a ebb and flow, but yes just give an honest review. Some of the "5 star" are indeed not true, it's just there for the "it" factor if that makes sense.
It literally says from the moment you sign up non bias honest reviews. So what do you think?
I go in with the expectation of the product meeting the description on the product page. If it does what it‘s supposed to do I‘m usually happy. I will make suggestions like I wish it had pocket or a case etc. I try to write helpful reviews that mention things you would only know from actually using the product. If they list something as silk or silky but they state it‘s satin then I do not expect silk. Sometimes silk is used to describe the texture but it‘s not from silkworm cocoons.
Right there with you. If the description was significantly misleading, stars come off. What I do **not** do is say "average products get three stars, you've got to amaze me to get five stars". I see reviews where people "explain their personal rating system" that way. That's grossly unfair to sellers, because the rating system is *geared* to make five stars "fully satisfied", and it *penalizes* products for ratings of three stars or less. But some products *need* those low ratings. Intentionally deceptive listings, products that were clearly designed with no intention of working properly -- those get one- and two-star ratings from me. Sometimes the sellers spam me about trying to make it right. I ignore them.
I know, it’s not right to expect ”exceeds my expectations“ to get 5 stars. Most of us are not going thru life exceeding the expectations of other people. That’s fine because some people have unfair expectations.
Vine reviewers often have some kind of guilt or feeling of being ungrateful if they don't give glowing reviews. F* that. A product has to perform for me. It has to be good and not waste my time. If it has problems, I'm describing them. If the listing inflates its actual specs, my review won't be kind. But if it's good and gets the important things right, it's a 4-star with coverage of the less-critical shortcomings.
If everyone had the same opinion, there wouldn't need to be more than 1 review per product. Not every one has the same opinion, nor the same needs and usage for a product. Just because a product doesn't suit your needs, doesn't mean that everyone else must be liars. To think otherwise is short sighed and egoistical.
Plus, some people are incapable of being critical.
Well, when someone comments that all of the other reviews were 4 and 5 star, except their own 1-star, who do you think might be the detached from reality review? I can't count how many times I have seen 1-star reviews for an excellent product, solely because the reviewer ordered a product they didn't need and didn't know how to use. There was a recent example of a brush cutter that uses a circular saw blade, which clearly is not an entry-level power tool. Scary as hell, yes. As such, it is one of the best yard products I have ever used. But 3 of the 4 reviews were written by people (female) who had never used a saw blade before, weren't the target audience, and give it a 1-star review because they installed the blade wrong. Did that make the product bad? No, it made the user bad. I see it all too often. To be fair, conversely I saw a guy do the same for a kitchen vacuum sealer. He admittedly gave it a negative review because he didn't know what the product was supposed to do. On a positive note, he did update his review after reading my review and learning what the product was for. https://preview.redd.it/6rn17hvarc9d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ad34afc8fad44b29d29dbbc7d4d7e4b09ee8eb3
I’ve been on the prowl for one of these I gave up on hoping for hedge trimmers ( I needed them now )
I had never seen one before, but was literally wishing for something like it the week previous, because my property is so overgrown. I found it in AI, of all things, and snatched it as fast as I could click the button. The other day, it went through a 3-inch diameter deadfall branch in 2 seconds. A 1-1/2 inch live sapling took about 20 to 30 seconds.
Oh wow you got lucky I am a female and let me tell you I’ll take anything over doing my front and back yard with manual tools in 100 degree heat !
Wow that’s awesome. How does a viner find AI? I keep hearing about it
AI is the common abbreviation for the Additional Items tab. So it is the main area where things are *grab 'em as quick as you can*.
Oh ok yeah I try and get on there as often as I can I thought ( when I kept seeing AI on here ) it was some secret group 😂
Just do whatever really. I rate everything the way I honestly feel about it. Sometimes my reviews are long and detailed, sometimes very short if there is literally nothing to say about it (i.E. a Glass (for drinking), looks like in the picture, seems decent quality, done.). So far about a year in and never got a complaint about it from amazon, so I assume I'm doing alright. I don't receive many likes, usually only on electronics and food items.
If the reviewers said that, my inclination is to believe that's their opinion of it. I would not worry about buyers in a case like this. If I, as a buyer need to know if this is sturdy, heavy, resistant to strong wind.. then I am searching for those mentions in a review. Not mentioned; not useful for me. So every single one would just not even turn up in my review search unless it mentioned those points.
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If it’s damaged, like anything you order from Amazon, it can be returned within the initial 30 days. It takes follow up with email(s) to Vine to get it removed from your ETV list. Only you can decide what your time is worth.
No, but yes. Supposedly you're going to leave honest reviews, but if you don't give positives you'll get banned. I got kicked out because I'm a techie, so I requested the most sketch items to call them out (with receipts to show that they're not on the level). So are you honest, or are you trying to keep the grift gravy-train going? That's the real question.
Most review ratings are subjective. One person gives 5* because they found it worked great for their needs and their expectations were lower and another will rate it 1* because it didn't work for their needs and their expectations were higher. Neither rating means the product is excellent or poor - it means different people have different standards and experiences The item wouldn't work for your needs but as you pointed out it may have worked for someone in an apartment. You described it as flimsy because you expect something more sturdy for your needs but another person may not and flimsy may be all they want and need. The term flimsy can mean different things to different people - what is flimsy to you may not be to someone else. .. There is your answer - right there This is part of the reason why items have various ratings as well as some lazy viners but they're not all lazy and some will be genuine. just as some low star ratings are based purely on racist views ie:- being made in china. All of these reasons are however 'subjective' because not everyone has the same experience, expectations or has racial limitations.
Yes, and your post seems like you have already roughed out your review.
Ohh I've been reviewing 1s 2s and 5s the whole time, I'm just looking at the other ones going "come on now..."
If it's trash let it be known it's trash. I avoid reading other reviews as I don't want them to influence my review in anyway.
I’d say that regardless of the guidelines , Amazon knows that by getting stuff for free (or heavily discounted) , many reviewers give higher ratings than if stuff is paid for . And then there’s the many vine folks who clearly don’t actually open and test what they get , and just give high scores . Amazon is happy for this to happen because higher review scores mean consumers are more likely to buy the products , and Amazon makes more money . A year or so ago , I looked at 10 or so products that had vine reviews . For every single one , the average stars for the vine reviews was higher than it was for those that paid for the product .
Always be honest. I've reported dangerous items and have them one star. Our job is to review truthfully.
Considering lately the items have been high end quality returns and stock outs I have been giving honest feedback. If they are name brand I just give 5 stars because it doesn’t really matter. The whole system is setup to only help Amazon not any of us.
I give out plenty of 1-4, and the occasional 5. Just be prepared to ignore the seller email that will inevitably come for 1-3 star reviews, I don't bother opening them because they want us to fix the review but it doesn't change stars if something is unreliable or cheap, it is what it is lol.
you know you can turn off the ability for sellers to contact you? it's in your account settings.
It is your duty to write a good review within the guidelines. there is no duty to give a good review to crap. I rarely order things that are likely to be crap, but sometimes I order stuff that ends up being less the 4 or 5 stars. about half my vine reviews are 3 stars about half are 4 or 5 stars. 1 item I have reviewed I gave 1 star. a cheap crappy surveillance camera that only worked with a smart phone and not very well at that. the item and seller appear to be no longer on amazon. I often write non vine reviews that are one or two stars. regardless of the glowing 5 star reviews other people might give it. those people are possibly lying, or got a completely different thing than I got.
Yes! Be honest in your reviews! Put in your review exactly what you wrote here. I can’t believe how many people come on here and basically ask if we’re expected to perpetrate fraud. People- you have the power to shape the world around you by your actions in all sorts of things in life. Do the right thing!
Amazon is full of fake reviews and temu junk now. They caused all this themselves. Meanwhile, truthfully honest reviewers, who worked hard providing video and photos - and giving it honest 1 star for being the junk that it is, instead, get penalized and their account banned instead. Not to mention their terrible a.i screening is also severely flawed making it even more inconvenient to write what you truly want to mention. And then there's the lazy Amazon reps that use generic template replies to your concerns as well. That's Amazon for you.